“See you in Düsseldorf.” The sentence with which Plasteurope.com ended its final report on “K 2007” – see Plasteurope.com of 02.11.2007 – is heard many times in the traditional three-year interim before the world’s leading plastics exhibition gets under way again. The curtain on “K 2010” will rise on 27 October, and hopeful players are now taking their place on the stage. For anyone in any part of the world with any hope of succeeding in this business, “the K” is the event not to miss. Every three years, Düsseldorf is the centre of the plastics universe for seven long days of looking and listening, chatting and negotiating or simply exchanging stories.

As K 2007 began, the industry was in an exuberant mood. No one dreamt that a scant year later the economic picture would look so dismal. Participants in the 2010 event are under no illusion that a disastrous economic blow such as the downswing that started in 2008 could not strike again. Yet, as the industry appears to be moving into its next upswing – more quickly than anyone dared to hope – it has on its running shoes. The uncomfortable recent past feels far away and prosperity seems to be not just around the corner, but already here.

In Düsseldorf over the next week, exhibitors from Europe, North America and Asia and their customers will pick up the thread from their previous conversations. The difference this time is that demographics as much as economics may be a dominating theme, and that any euphoria will be laced with a pinch of caution.

During 2010, the machinery manufacturing sector has staged a remarkable comeback. The plastics and rubber committee of the German machinery association VDMA (KuG, Frankfurt; www.kug.vdma.org) has reported an upsurge of 85% in new orders in the first half year – see Plasteurope.com of 07.09.2010. While the recovery figures illustrate how deep the slump really was, the trend going forward remains encouraging, KuG’s managing director Thorsten Kühmann told Plasteurope.com in a talk ahead of the fair. The association will soon revise its forecast for 2010 upward from the 11% growth previously predicted.

Machinery manufacturers in Italy, which ranks second worldwide, behind Germany, also are encouraged by recent developments. According to the monthly membership survey of the industry association Assocomaplast (Milan; www.assocomaplast.org), first-half 2010 sales of injection moulding machinery were 10.5% ahead of the 2008 period. After an upturn in domestic orders of 50% year-on-year in the year’s first five months– see Plasteurope.com of 07.07.2010 – the association reports that exports are also improving.

But all is not sunshine and roses. Even if machinery makers are seeing renewed growth, their performance is still below the record levels seen in 2008, warns Kühmann. He believes it may take some time for the industry to recover from its collective shock. What the rebound does show is that customer industries –plastics converters in Asia, in particular in China and India – are recovering nicely. But positive signals are being sent out by North America as well, the German manager says. Led by the K’s host country, the European plastics processing sector is also on the road back to health.

Plastics converters in the host country are encouraged by the economic signals for their branch, Christoph Bornhorn, managing director of the association Gesamtverband Kunststoffverarbeitende Industrie (GKV, Bad Homburg / Germany; www.gkv.de) told PIE. Sales of GKV member companies rose by nearly 15% year-on-year in the first eight months of 2010 to more than EUR 30 bn. Even if the upswing may be losing a little of its earlier momentum, growth is still evident in the second half year, Bornhorn notes. In August, for example, sales were up 20% against the same month of 2009.

The world generally looks to the K to see which way the wind is blowing for the plastics industry, and this year’s event will be no exception. At the moment there seems to be a strong tailwind, that, as yet, shows no signs of turning. The slight decline in the number of converters exhibiting in Düsseldorf this year is most likely due to the trend – among German converters, at least – to concentrate marketing efforts on the most pertinent trade fairs such as “Interpack”, explains GKV’s Bornhorn. As visitors, however, the decision makers among the industry’s leading processing firms will be out in force.

Plastics producers also are exhibiting renewed confidence in the future as K 2010 starts, and this is borne out by the industry’s performance this year, says Peter Orth, managing director of PlasticsEurope Deutschland (Frankfurt / Germany; www.plasticseurope.org). But even in this industry segment dominated by large multinational chemical producers, no one is breaking out the champagne. Caution rules – the shock of the 2008 crash still sits deep. There is no time to sit back and relax, anyway, Orth says, as producers grapple with rising costs and growing competition in the global marketplace.

Figures for 2010 compiled by PlasticsEurope on the performance of the three segments – production, processing and machinery manufacture – of the industry in EU27 show a clear picture of developments since the economic downturn bottomed out in February 2009. In January, plastics production was 90% of the 2005 level, rising to more than 98% in August. Plastics machinery output rose from 83% (again based on 2005 levels) in January to 95% in August.

The recovery in the European plastics processing sector appears to be moving sideways. Following a rise in January to 93.5%, output hit a peak of 94.5% in May. In August, the figure was 94.2%. While most converters in the European plastics “heartland,” led by Germany, may be on a roll, the UK and Spain evidently have some way to go, observers say. But this does not mean that the upswing will not take hold there, too. If the past is any indication, K 2010 will provide important impulses for business.

During the fair, Plasteurope.com (www.pieweb.com) and its sister publication Kunstoff Information (KI; www.kiweb.de) will be spotlighting the latest news from the industry as it unfolds, along with polymer price and market research reports. This year you will find us in hall 6, booth A 15. See you in Düsseldorf!